This semester, BEF will be working on a variety of tasks and providing various deliverables throughout the semester. These have been divided into milestones. These include:
Milestone 1: Energy Consumption Flight
- Tech Team re-evaluating the existing battery system for the AL37 and determining if a second battery should be implemented to fix issues from last semester.
- Finishing configuring the Pixhawk for the AL37 aircraft.
- Conducting the project’s third flight and second flight with the AL37.
- Gathering data and graphs from the QGroundControl software based on energy consumption.
- Compiling the energy consumption results and post-flight analysis into a post-flight report.
Milestone 2: Pressure & Performance Data Flight
- Finishing installation of a pitot tube and utilizing it with the Pixhawk.
- Conducting the second flight of the semester.
- Gathering pressure, altitude, & GPS data with the Pixhawk & QGroundControl.
- Conducting data analysis and compiling the results and discussion into the post-flight report.
Milestone 3: Analysis & Selection of New Truss-Braced Wing Airfoil
- Creating CAD model of AL37 aircraft
- Creating wings using airfoils researched last semester (YS-930-il & NACA-4415-il) and implement to AL37 fuselage
- Conducting Star-CCM analysis of airfoils
- Documenting results into a post-analysis result and select new airfoil for truss-braced wings
Milestone 4: Symposium
- Milestones 1-3 accomplished
An additional milestone that could be added depending on the time remaining in the semester after milestones 1 through 3 would be to begin re-investigating the carbon fiber aircraft and document every issue the aircraft has, and how the team in future semesters may handle those issues using what we’ve learned from the AL37.